Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Yan Zaizen was startled by Tao's outburst. A True Spirit? He'd never come across anything remotely similar, and even during their two years of constant discussions, Tao had never mentioned a True Spirit before. Let alone seeing Tao act this way when mentioning anything. Whatever this True Spirit was, it must be an extraordinary existence.

"What's a true spirit?" He inquired with anticipation leaking from his voice.

It took Tao a while before his emotions calmed down before he could answer the question. "In this world, we use armaments. Armaments represent all tools, weapons, shields, and items. They hold miraculous effects and can amplify a cultivator's comprehensive combat strength, regardless of their cultivation path." He explained. Yan Zaizen already knew that much.

Armaments were the lifeblood of many cultivators. The skyship, the violet outfit he was currently wearing, the armor wielded by the hunters in the Basilisk Forest, or spatial rings used to store things.

Tao continued, "Armaments can be divided into four ranks and four grades. These things are typically determined by its effect in comparison to others in its classification, but it can also be determined by other factors as well. The four ranks are Earth, Sky, Spirit, and World. As for the grades, Low, Mid, High, and Top. Earth-rank is the most common type of armament mainly because they are armaments without a Spirit Form."

Yan Zaizen was soaking up all of this information. He knew very little about armaments outside of Earth-ranked ones. He felt this would be vastly beneficial for his future cultivation.

"To be ranked as Earth-rank is simple and only requires a well-crafted base and some additional formations embedded within. The Spirit Form is what every earth rank armament lacks. A Spirit Form is the initial development of a True Spirit, an artificial soul. The Spirit Form could operate formations to its highest degree amplifying the characteristics of the armament, but it lacks any form of advanced intelligence. When an armament has a Spirit Form, it can be classified as a Sky-rank Armament."

"After the Spirit Form develops advanced intelligence, sentience and even the ability to cultivate does it become a True Spirit. Its physical body would be the armament, and its True Spirit would represent its soul. This means they wouldn't be any different from you or me in terms of their ability to think and grow. They develop unique abilities based on their circumstances of birth and cultivate to improve their grade. This is an indication of them being at the Spirit-rank. When the True Spirit evolves and becomes a Spirit World, only then does it become a World-rank armament."

Yan Zaizen's eyes were widened in absolute shock. A living armament? He had never considered that possibility. He digested all the information he was just given and cross-referenced what he knew with the situation that he was in.

"This grey light has an odd life fluctuation, likely because it originates from an armament and not an organic body. It's possible...that only I can perceive it due to my comprehension of life laws, and perhaps my high soul cultivation." He came to the conclusion that this must be a spirit-rank armament or higher.

However, that begs the question: Why was it here?

"Can you reach it?" Tao inquired, now calm once more. In the cultivation world, the rank of a weapon didn't indicate its raw strength but its capabilities in general. Therefore, it's entirely possible for this armament to be invaluable to anyone. The sheer number of resources required to develop an armament with a True Spirit was truly exceptional.

The majority of cultivators in the Xiantu Realm used earth-rank. Even Origin Core Realm experts used earth-rank, top-grade armaments. Only a scant number of them had sky-rank armaments due to the difficulty in creating an artificial soul stable enough to operate formations.

Yan Zaizen took a deep breath to contain his excitement. "I'll try."

He flew over towards the wall, cautiously getting closer. As he did, he realized the sensation of life was getting more distinct. It kept increasing until he reached the wall.

"It's in the wall?" He muttered in surprise. If that's the case, it made sense why it wasn't discovered if others explored this area before. Perhaps they didn't have a high cultivation base, but they would definitely discover it if something was sticking outside or on the wall.

He gently placed his palm on the wall and could feel the cold earth. A flash of silver-blue light formulated a sharp tendril, lighting up the dark area. The tendril pierced into the earthly wall and drilling until it reached the grey lifeforce, and then it attempted to wrap around it.

BOOM!!!

"Arrrgh!!" Yan Zaizen screamed suddenly, causing Tao to be startled. However, it was brief, and then Yan Zaizen simply stood there blankly. Tao arrived next to him, attempting to see what happened, but he found out that Yan Zaizen's eyes were closed. Despite this, his silver-blue energy was still surrounding him enabling his flight. The tendril was still drilled into the wall, and his lifeforce was vibrant as always.

"Damage to the soul?" He thought but quickly dismissed the idea. Soul damage would cause soul energy to be unstable, but Yan Zaizen's soul energy tendril was stable. Something must've happened that jolted Yan Zaizen to his current state.

While Tao was curious about Yan Zaizen's predicament, Yan Zaizen himself was in an entirely different world. It felt like a sea of consciousness, but it was completely grey in color. When he arrived, he arrived in soul form. His eyes held black endlessness, his glabella swirled, an infinite number of white motes of light swam within it, a white flame and inky black orb danced around each other while a silver-copy of Yan Zaizen stood there in inactivity - as if it'll never falter.

"Such an odd soul form!" A womanly voice shouted with surprise. This voice resounded from all directions making it quite difficult to pinpoint its origin.

Yan Zaizen was startled, looking around to see only grey in the surroundings. "Where am I?" He asked the voice. Despite the sudden situation, he was remarkably composed. He analyzed what had just happened. His soul came into contact with another, it dragged his soul form from his body, but he could still feel the connection with his physical body. It didn't feel like his soul form was dragged away, but more so that it merged into another sea of consciousness.

"You're in my consciousness." The womanly voice stated. This voice was calm, steady, and strong. It felt like it originated from a leader or noblewoman of a country. It didn't contain an innate authority, but more so a gentle serenity.

"Why?" He inquired with furrowed brows.

"..." The voice didn't respond.

Encountering this, Yan Zaizen didn't panic. Instead, he started to think more about the situation till an idea struck him. "You're dying?"

"..."

"..."

"I am." She responded after a while, her voice still calm.

"Are you an armament?"

"Yes, I am."

"Spirit-rank?"

"Yes."

"Your name?" He inquired. From her flat replies and lack of a violent response to his appearance, it seemed his intrusion into her sea of consciousness was willing on her part. In the cultivation world, especially in the Deep Mines, many people rarely do a thing without some form of benefit to themselves. If she allowed him in, she undoubtedly wanted something.

"I've been known by many names over the years. You can call me...Pinaka."